Politics
He was sitting at home typing away on his computer. Neighbors of El Trigal in the state of Carabobo subsequently learned of Julio César Rivas's arrest in the city of Valencia as he was being apprehended by the Scientific, Penal and Criminalistic Investigation Agency (Cicpc) from a message sent by Rivas himself through social networking service Twitter: "The Cicpc has entered my home (...) spread the word quickly."

His last message was recorded on the web on September 7 at 4:12 p.m. A video by state-operated television station Venezolana de Televisión also showed live images as officers handcuffed him and transferred him to the main offices of the scientific police in Caracas. The events that took place afterwards are known to the public only from the words of his lawyer, Alfredo Romero: "The director of the Cicpc, Wilmer Flores Trosel, held Rivas in his own office and interrogated my client informally, without a lawyer present and without being able to speak to anyone until the following day."

The whole country now knows that Julio César Rivas Castillo is under arrest at the Yare III jail. The 22-year-old, accused of six crimes after taking part on August 22 in a protest against the Organic Law on Education, waits for a court hearing as he remains imprisoned in Tower 4 of that high-security facility, where on Tuesday, September 15 rotten food was served and two days later shots were fired before dawn.

Weeks have elapsed since the day he was thrown in with the general jail population, even though the Prefect of Caracas Richard Blanco and other employees of the Metropolitan Mayor's Office, facing the same situation, are held in a nearby facility.

Just like his cellmates, Rivas is located in an area without proper ventilation. He is under observation, just as any other person during the first days of imprisonment, and may not be visited by anyone other than his lawyers.

Romero notes that Rivas poses no risk of flight and there is no need to subject him to the harsh conditions of Yare III. "Locking someone up in an area without proper ventilation and temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius may very well be construed as torture," he claims. "We filed a motion seeking his relocation on the grounds that subjecting persons who have not been heard in court yet to the same conditions as convicted criminals is against procedural laws for the criminal process and violates human rights."

What is truly important in Rivas's case, however, is that the people of Valencia and throughout the country keep his case, and those of others who he claims are political prisoners, in mind. To everyone he manages to speak to, he insists that he has committed no crime.

"All my actions, even those on that day, are protected by the Constitution," he told student leaders Luis Magallanes, David Uzcátegui and other visitors allowed to see him on September 11 at the facilities of the Special Task Force of the Cicpc before being transferred to Yare.

Supporters and detractors
Within government ranks, many do not see Julio Rivas as the "harmless little pigeon" the opposition factors make him out to be. Flores Trosel pointed out that Rivas is a leader of Active Youths for Venezuela United (JAVU) and publicly accused that organization of being "a violent group who shows up at marches and protests to wreak havoc, destroy public property and attack police forces." On his TV show aired on state-owned channel VTV, Mario Silva was the first to single out Rivas as an agitator during the march held on August 22.

To those who support him, Rivas is a victim of a government that criminalizes any means of protest. According to his lawyer, "he is a trophy on display intended to appease the student movement." It is no coincidence that this ordeal began during a march against the controversial Education Law; Romero believes that "Julio is a prisoner of the Education Law."

Just who is this young man measuring less than 1.70 meters accused of the crimes of instigating civil war and causing severe damages, abetment, conspiracy to commit a crime, resisting arrest, property damages and use of a generic weapon?

jpoliszuk@eluniversal.com

Traslated by Félix Rojas

Joseph Poliszuk
EL UNIVERSAL